Palestine official:

The secretary-general of the Palestine National Initiative Movement referred to the increase in detention of Palestinians by the Israeli regime forces in recent days, saying that the occupying regime's move was aimed at preventing their candidacy in the upcoming Elections in Palestine.

Iran PressMiddle East: Al-Ahd News Network quoted a prominent Leader of the Fatah Movement and Secretary-General of the Palestine National Initiative Movement Mustafa Barghouti on Wednesday as saying that the Israeli regime's goal was to intensify its policy of detaining and threatening Palestinian activists, preventing the Movement members from running in the upcoming Elections and trying to suppress freedoms and destroy democratic elections in Palestine.

Barghouti added: "It is quite clear that the Israeli regime wants to prevent the holding of Palestinian Elections and the "realization of national reconciliation" of the Palestinians to claim that it enjoys the only democracy in the region and that the Palestinian people are not able to unite with each other."

He stressed the need for a unified response to the Israeli regime's repression and its efforts to interfere in the outcome of the upcoming Elections in Palestine.

In recent days, the Israeli regime has carried out widespread illegal detentions of members of Fatah and Hamas movements and released prisoners in the West Bank and the occupied Quds. According to the Palestinian Authority's presidential decree, the legislative elections will be held on May 22 and the presidential elections on July 31, and if the legislative elections are not postponed to the second round, the National Assembly elections will be held on May 31. 

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